The Undead: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''"From every graveyard pour the hordes to strike before the dawn''
''A thousand years of death's carnage gathered 'fore the morn,''
''Their vengeance turned against mankind's unsuspecting head''
''There's no defense, there's no escape, you cannot kill the dead!"''
|Pagan Altar, "The March of the Dead"}}
Dead folks who, whether due to magic, [[Applied Phlebotinum]], [[Due to
Come in several varieties.
* Death, AKA [[The Grim Reaper]]: The big guy himself, usually portrayed as [[Implacable Man]] in a [[Black Cloak]] carrying a [[Sinister Scythe]]. But [[The Sandman|not]] [[Dead Like Me|always]]. {{smallcaps| [[Discworld|MAY SPEAK IN]] [[Painting the Fourth Wall|ALL CAPS]]}}. Is a very diligent worker, who truly [[Death Takes a Holiday|deserves some vacation time]] every now and then. He might ask you nicely to [[Go Into the Light]] or he might try to send you there [[Castlevania|himself]]. Or he might just fancy [[Chess
** There are also variations that look similar to [[The Grim Reaper]] but aren't unique beings, yet still more dangerous and rare than your run-off the mill skeleton.
* [[Black Knight|Death Knights]]: What liches are to sorcerers, these guys [[Warrior Heaven|are to]] [[Hell Is War|warriors]]. They rarely appear unless the undead are an organized army and when they do they function either as its generals, [[Elite Mooks|shock troopers]] [[Authority Equals Asskicking|or both]]. They are nearly always found on horseback ([[Hellish Horse|either skeletal or pitch black]]), their weapon of choice often is a one handed bastard sword with a skull on the hilt and their armor is [[Skeletons in
* [[Frankenstein's Monster]]: Or anything else made from human corpses and brought back with technology. The original was big, a quick learner, and very, very pissed at his creator. The modern type is a bit more pitiable. Usually the stitches show, so you can tell them apart from zombies. The intelligence level varies. They seem to have universal [[Super Strength]], so don't challenge one to arm wrestling. Also note that, depending on the work, these may not be "technically" undead, and hence not vulnerable to holy power and tricks like the [[Trope Namer]] of [[Revive Kills Zombie]].
* [[Our Ghosts Are Different|Ghosts]]: Walking corpses without the corpses, most are understandably ticked off about this. Other than that, they have little in common, varying nearly as much as the rest of the undead put together. Depending on the genre, they can be anything from harmless pranksters to [[Eldritch Abomination|Lovecraftian horrors]]; you'll know which one yours is once he starts smearing things on the wall. If it's crayon, you're generally okay; if it's blood, you are so horribly screwed it's not even funny. Unless you [[Tomato in
** Unlike most forms of undeath, ghosts can be friendly. They may return to protect a loved one, or reward someone who arranged their burial, or the like.
* [[Our Ghouls Are Creepier|Ghouls]]: Originally deriving from Arabic folklore but popularized by H.P. Lovecraft's stories and subsequent media, their depiction varies from animated corpses to living beings, but when undead they usually are depicted as bestial and hyper-aggressive zombies. Intelligence and appearance vary; in the original folktales these creatures could sometimes be mistaken for (and marry) humans, but recent interpretations have made them animalistic in behavior and more obviously corpselike in aspect. Unlike zombies they generally retain some degree of free will. Some variations of ghouls tend to feast exclusively on the dead, but that only means they have to kill someone before they eat them.
* [[Mummy|Mummies]]: The mummy shambles towards the archaeologists who have defiled its tomb. Luckily for them, it doesn't move fast due to sleeping for three thousand years (although there are [[The Mummy Trilogy
* [[Our Zombies Are Different|Revenants]]: Your standard resuscitated corpse, however, unlike a zombie this undead isn't quite so rotting and falling apart, fairly intelligent, and, most importantly, an individual, since they retain their memories from their previous lives. They tend to seek vengeance for past wrongs, especially if they were murdered. While conceptually very old, and the prototype from which many other undead derive, this trope has fallen out of favor for the horde of zombies and the bloodsucking vampire. Often [[Living
* [[Our Liches Are Different|Liches]]: Popularized in ''[[Dungeons
* [[Dem Bones|Skeletons]]: Zombies without meat, so to speak. Tend to be difficult to hurt because they are all bone, so blunt weapons (or magic, if available) are required or at least useful. Other versions are simply cannon fodder undead. Most of them aren't particularly smart (not having a brain and all). Only really common in out-and-out fantasy as they're a little too fantastic for sci-fi or horror; expect them to be magically reanimated soldiers for the [[Evil Sorcerer]] or [[Vain Sorceress]] that [[Perpetual Motion Monster|don't need to eat or sleep]], and stand guard over tombs for centuries if need be. Despite being fleshless, [[The Dead Have Eyes]].
* [[Undead Child
* [[Our Vampires Are Different|Vampires]]: Like zombies, only faster, stronger, and smarter. They suck blood, and may spend a lot of time angsting about it. Usually highly attractive, and both genders tend to be somewhat... [[Ho Yay|festive]]. Dislike [[Turn Undead|holy stuff]], [[Weakened
* [[Our Werewolves Are Different|Werewolves]]: They are ''occasionally'' considered undead in older myths, but generally modern werewolves are not undead, being people who ''survive'' a werewolf attack, as those who die usually do not return as werewolves.
** Sometimes they're just [[Discworld|lumped in the same category]] of 'creepy things', regardless of the level of truth to it. To quote one Ankh-Morporkian: "They're big and scary, come from [[
* [[Our Zombies Are Different|Zombies]]: Just ordinary, run-of-the-mill walking corpses. [[Zombie Gait|Slow]] (usually...), weak (comparatively...), mostly blind, ([[The Dead Have Eyes|unless they aren't]]) and stupid (at first...). [[Made of Plasticine|Surprisingly squishy]], but they don't really notice. [[Kill It
While not invariably, Undead often bring [[Evil Is Deathly Cold]] into play, since they are, in fact, deathly, and corpses are naturally cold.
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One way undead vary is the nature of their mind and soul. In some cases, including liches, most ghosts, and some vampires, they keep their original soul. They can still remember the simple pleasures of life, but they can no longer experience them, a frustration which may fill them with hatred of the living, or simply make their existence an unliving hell. Sympathetic undead are most often from this category.
In other cases, including many traditional vampires and some zombies, the undead are actually animated by evil spirits or demons. They may have access to the memory of the person whose corpse they are wearing, but they are not truly the deceased. These types are almost [[
The remaining undead may be little more than puppets of a necromancer, or they may be powered by magic alone, but they have no animating spirit.
Not all undead rise from humans. See [[Raising the Steaks]] for undead animals, [[Non
See also [[Night of the Living Mooks]], [[Big Boo's Haunt]], [[Clown Car Grave]], [[Animate Dead]]. Frequently, they find out [[Undeath Always Ends]]. But [[The Dead Can Dance]]! Heroes often find that [[Removing the Head
This trope has nothing at all to do with the band [[
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Immortality]]
[[Category:Index of Fictional Creatures]]
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